Does CIA Really Have Al-Qaeda 'On the Run'?

CIA Director Leon Panetta says the CIA is
"seriously disrupting al-Qaeda" in what has been "the most aggressive
operation that CIA has been involved in in our history." He also says,
"we really do have them on the run." Meanwhile, a drone strike in
Pakistan reportedly killed a senior
commander of al-Qaeda. Still, Panetta's statement is a bold one. Is he
right?

Panetta's Case In an interview with the
Washington Post, Panetta described an al-Qaeda with spotty
leadership, limited resources and a greatly reduced capacity. "So
profound is al-Qaeda's disarray that one of its lieutenants, in a
recently intercepted message, pleaded with bin Laden to come to the
group's rescue and provide some leadership, Panetta said." He boasted,
"It's pretty clear from all the intelligence we are getting that they
are having a very difficult time putting together any kind of command
and control, that they are scrambling. And that we really do have them
on the run."

We've Heard This Before The New York Times' David Sanger counters, "At the
end of the Bush administration, intelligence officials made similar
claims. At the same time, some officials concede, an operation as
complex as that in Khost demonstrates that Al Qaeda and the Taliban can
still carry out sophisticated terror actions."

Obama Resists
Liberals in War on TerrorConservative
blogger Allahpundit praises President Obama for his tough approach to national security. "Naturally, with drone
strikes proving more effective than ever, Obama’s now under legal
pressure from the ACLU to discontinue them, but I give him full credit
for resisting the left thus far. Summarily executing these turds with
missiles cuts entirely against [Attorney General] Eric Holder’s
'innocent until proven guilty' criminal-law ethos of counterterrorism,
but in this case, three cheers for hypocrisy."

Are Those Drone
Strikes Even Legal? The Washington Post's Greg Sargent sighs, "What about that pesky question of a legal
rationale for those drone strikes? The Obama administration says they’ll get around to sharing that with
us one of these days. The fierce urgency of whenever…"

Is He
Right? Who KnowsSpencer Ackerman points
out that Panetta's claims are so vague and hard to verify that it's
tough to know how seriously to take them. "And yet you can’t exactly not
report them when he gives them to you. As such, it’s kind of like
saying, 'Senior Official Says His People Are Doing a Great Job at
Something Important.'"

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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